Three UK Boosting EU Data Roaming Allowance from 15GB to 19GB
Mobile operator Three UK has begun issuing a new text message to customers, which informs those who like to roam around the EU that the existing 15GB “fair use data limit” on 3G and 4G (mobile broadband) services will be increased to 19GB from 28th December 2018 “at no extra charge“.
“We’re upping the amount of data you can enjoy in Go Roam Europe destinations at no extra charge,” said the announcement. We should point out that ‘Pay As You Go’ customers will also see an increase, albeit going from 12GB today to 15GB at the end of next month.
Crucially the new data limits are only applicable if you have the required data in your plan. For example, if you have a 4GB Pay Monthly data plan then you’ll be capped to 4GB, but if you have 100GB then you will very soon be able to use 19GB of that in the EU.
Data usage over 19GB for Pay Monthly and 15GB for Pay As You Go is priced at 0.5p per MB (MegaByte), but if you’re in the Aland Islands, French Guiana, Gibraltar, Guadeloupe, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Martinique, Mayotte, Norway, Réunion or Switzerland then the surcharge is slightly lower at 0.41p per MB.
At the same time Three UK will also increase their worldwide data cap to £43.97 (a rise of £1.48), which reflects the maximum amount of money you pay for data above your standard rate (this exists to protect customers from bill shocks).
Take note that customers cannot use their phone as a WiFi Personal Hotspot (aka – Tethering) when in a Go Roam Around the World destination (unless you’ve purchased our Data Passport), although we believe that this restriction should have been or will soon be removed for EU specific travellers (here).
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook and Linkedin.
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I thought it will be no longer roaming free because we are leaving the EU?
Hi Franklin. The Operators have the choice to keep EU roaming free or take it away. Three have stated previously that they will keep roaming included in their plans. But remains to be seen of course.
In Malta I only registered under 1 mbps so
this is irrelevant
Three has been forced by Ofcom to allow tethering, so they found different way to slow you down. 1Mbps in roaming suggest poor/limited VPN link.
take note that in fact you CAN use your phone as a personal hotspot while roaming WITHOUT paying for a data passport. This is counted separately and is shown on your bill.
I wish three would get their act together and tell people who it actually works rather than how they think it works.
To the person who mentioned leaving the EU. Yes we are leaving the EU but since three and all the other operators have massively increased prices to pay for what they are giving you ‘for free’ roaming in other countries will stay the same.
Three have already indicated that they have no plans to stop free roaming outside the EU so it would be a bit silly of them to stop this in just europe.
you’re welcome 🙂
My phone worked fine as a mobile WiFi hotspot in California in February. It also worked fine as one in Australia 2 years ago. Neither time did I pay any extra. So I’m not sure if these are new restrictions or they just say it to try and limit use and abuse.
Three’s roaming service is so poor and throttled that you you would struggle to use that allowance in a year. After a week travelling through France and getting hardly enough data to receive an email I have ditched Three. Worst roaming service by far and mostly only 3G if you can even get it.
True, three only have 3G services abroad, been with them years and never a 4G signal. I was in Rome and 3 ITA was 4G but I couldn’t even access their sister companies services.
They outright lie to you on the phone and they’ve just offered me a refund via complaint as they’ve confirmed no 4G abroad.
4g now available on three across Europe, check coverage on their website.
Daft Vader,
Well I was in Ireland in with a Three data SIM in May and it worked fine North, South, town, country – signal intermittent where you might expect in remote spots – right across.
Don’t recall wether it was 3G or 4G but it came in perfectly readily and have no idea wether this could be due t recent changes or simply that it is different over there.
Mileage may vary
4G now widely available across Europe on Three network, they’ve kept this a bit quiet for some reason but you can now see this is available on their website ( Europe coverage checker page ) visited Spain in March 2019, had 4G on Movistar ( who three partner ) used 7gig in 5 days using hotspot, worked great and no extra charges.